Court of the Fallen was created in October of 2018 by Odd, Honey, and Crooked.
Skinning and hosting by the epically talented Kaons, and functionality fanciness by the coding magic of Neowulf. If you ever see either of them around, make sure to show them some love!
"Thehn gho sihng ter them." Ru'in barks at Jigano dismissively. Whether or not this show of restraint is indicative that it's the real, or monstrous Ru'in is uncertain.
Not a choice but a question, though for Kiada, there is no difference. This is truly the monster now, the voice that seems on the verge of twisting the knife in further. The one that wants to tell her that she's had her time with Deimos, in two worlds now. If she really would marry him, then she should—
—"Aye whill ahlwahys luhv yew." He says. Closer now, she can see that his brown eye is entirely black, swirling with a horrific madness. The white eye however is clear, real, and just as torn. As her sword swings Ru'in's lip twitches painfully, jaw clenching and shoulders tensing, but he doesn't move.
He holds himself still. The man inside of the monster.
Her blade strikes deep into his neck with a thunk. Black tendrils of blood pool outwards and instinctively he reaches up to staunch the flow. "Khi—" He gulps. "—ah—" Dropping to his knees he looks up at her for a frozen moment, his one eye still clear, until it flicks towards the darkness behind her.
"RHUN—" He bellows loudly as tendrils snap from the darkness towards the pair. Oh, they have their lights, but the monsters have time and their wickedness. They are not above sacrificing their own.
do not misunderstand me when i call myself a shell
i mean a used up bullet casing
It is him, yet it also isn’t. And it hurts her to see him this way, to see the freckles she knows like constellations in the sky that are right and the same, to the bi-toned eyes that are half wrong. He tells her he’ll always love her, and her throat tightens. Because she knows what she has to do. She can’t leave him like this, half man, half monster, banished away by the light of the sun.
She raises her arm, slashing it down, hoping that he might move because she doesn’t know if she can do this.
And he doesn’t.
A sob breaks out of her as the blade hits the side of his neck, black blood pooling and covering bits of her leather and furs, and her hand is shaking as she withdraws the blade, his hand instinctively reaching for the wound. He drops to his knees, eyes looking up to her and frozen as he says her name, as fear inserts itself in both her heart and his eyes. And she hiccups a small amount of air through the tightness of her throat, heart wildly pounding and breaking and breaking and b r e a k i n g.
He bellows for her to run and she grits her teeth, raising the sword again, looking down to him through the blur of her vision. “I can’t!” She cries to him, hoping Jigano has her back against the flurry of the shadows. She swings her sword down again, praying to Ludo, praying to Safrin, on the darkest of nights, the longest of nights. “I need you.” His soul, his hand, him. Auni grows incredibly restless, braying his disapproval and fear as the shadows begin to pounce, and Kiada hopes that perhaps this swing will do the trick. She doesn’t know how many more she has in her.
She cannot, will not fail this quest. She won’t let herself. She will sacrifice everything she has to ensure that.
as in, the aftermath of something lethal
as in, an echo of inflicted evil
Kiada has a large X scar on the right side of her neck.
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Kiada, without killing her <3
10-22-2019, 07:53 PM (This post was last modified: 10-22-2019, 07:53 PM by Jigano.)
Ru'in's dislike of the bard's song isn't Jigano's concern. Ru'in isn't his concern, or at least not so much as Kiada is. He was sent to sing to her lost lover's soul, to walk at her side in the dark on this tragic quest, and even if it is foolish he won't risk his song failing when it is needed. If the monster who was a man didn't like it, he could take it up with Kiada and Ludo after he had been brought safely back to the light.
Or not so safely, as it happened.
He gave them what privacy he could while staying close enough to be Kiada's shadow, close enough to be her armor against the night. His eyes darted around, trying to pierce the veil of ink beyond the edges of their light, and he was not caught off guard when the big man bellowed his warning and the shadows lashed out, determined to paint the snow red to match Ru'in's black cascade. Hold to Ludo's promise! Unnecessary encouragement to both of the wounded souls as he twisted to try and knock the tendrils aside with the shield strapped to his arm, angling it so they wouldn't strike flat but would instead be deflected, hopefully preventing them from trying to curl around the edges of the metal. The lantern in his hand would provide its own light upon the problem, but Jigano wasn't going to let himself get too cocky about it as his song took on a harder edge. As he spun back-to-back with Kiada he also lashed out at the inky tentacles with the luxere-antler staff, hoping to burn them away before they could reach either Kiada or Ru'in behind him.
"Mahry—" He tries, lips parted though he isn't breathing. Where his knees intersect with the ring of light, black bones appear. —me—" A hand, shaking, stretches out. Again though as it breaks into the barrier of the light the skin disappears entirely, leaving only tendrils of black in the shape of a hand; curling, clawing, towards her. His one eye though, still clear and heartbroken, holds her gaze even as her sword swings again...and for a moment after, though her blade has gone straight through his neck, he looks at her still.
Mahry me?
He turns to stone, as he so often did before in the stillness. He turns to stone as his head topples from his neck; uncorked, ink flies upwards not unlike Ludo's rags. There is a violent hissing sound as the cloud of hate and malice rises above them. Thick globules of black acid fall, meaning to maim and wound yes, but to cover Auni's antlers and Jigano's lantern as well.
You done got KQ'd! Random initiative order is: Kiada, Jigano. Short + Summaries please!
do not misunderstand me when i call myself a shell
i mean a used up bullet casing
Shadows leap but her eyes only remain on Ru’in, the stone to ground her fire. The bronze to her own. And where the ring of light reaches his knees, she can see the black tendrils of bone, blurred from her tears. And he asks her again, and this time.. this time she can tell him. “Yes.” It’s short and sweet, but she doesn’t have time — no time at all as the blade cleaves through his neck, and her lover turns to stone. And he still looks to her, a garbled sound leaving her as the acidic black blood sprays and coats, and Auni tries to bury his antlers in the snow to wipe off the blood, to bring back to light, to protect.
She has half a mind to shut Jigano out, as though the fact that killing Ru’in just now wasn’t proof enough that she’s following her vow. But she doesn’t, not as she hisses under her breath, through the scratch to her throat, back tracking to meet Jigano’s own back. It’s dark and she’s panicking as more of the acidic blood turns to rain of a sort, and she grasps for the shield Deimos has equipped her with that’s settled along her back, holding it up in the hopes of creating a barrier from it. “Clean the lantern.” She manages through her scrambled thoughts. They need it, need this. And with her other hand, she strikes out into the dark with the blade, aiming for the creatures that have suffocated their light.
Auni tries to bury his antlers in the snow to get the blood off, and Kiada raises her shield to block out the blood rain, striking out with her sword hand at the shadows!
as in, the aftermath of something lethal
as in, an echo of inflicted evil
Kiada has a large X scar on the right side of her neck.
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Kiada, without killing her <3
He could not see what was happening behind him but he could hear. A proposal, an acceptance--
and the slicing of flesh. An explosion of fluid. Kiada's back met his and he pressed against her, ducking beneath the cover her shield as best he could while he rubbed the lantern frantically against his cloak to clear the blackness from it while keeping the acidic stuff clear of his skin. The staff still glowed, unblackened at least, offering some protection to them while they struggled to regain their light, but he would abandon his cleaning in a heartbeat to place himself between Kiada and any attack.
Jigano relies on the staff's light to protect them for a moment as he ducks beneath Kiada's shield-cover. He tries to clean the lantern on his cloak. However, he will stop that and move to defend her if she is attacked.
10-22-2019, 09:32 PM (This post was last modified: 10-22-2019, 09:32 PM by Random Event.)
There is no lady of luck in the divine pantheon here, and it shows.
Jigano needs not move to defend Kiada, for the shadows lurch out at him. They sizzle in the presence of the luxere lantern, but as yet more ink drips from the sky, coating it and sizzling as the light within burns off the brackish fluid, they hurl stones and other debris that is within their vast reach. Hurling a spear towards the bard, beneath half-cover even as he is, it slices through the meat of one of his thighs, impaling through the flesh on the inside.
Grusomly, one of the shadows picks up Ru'in's stone head, lobbing it at Kiada. It strikes the shield but then bounces towards her, striking the side of her face and leaving a gash that freely bleeds.
"Where shall we have the wedding?" A voice from above taunts. It is in Ru'in's tone of voice, but certainly not his timbre or cadence.
do not misunderstand me when i call myself a shell
i mean a used up bullet casing
She’s breaking and breaking and breaking until the spear hits Jigano, and Ru’in’s head comes hurtling toward her. It hits the shield and she thanks god for Deimos having the foresight to make her one handed weapons, clenching her teeth as it rolls and scrapes along her cheek, one more wound to add to the many the girl has endured. She hisses against the blood that streams down her cheek, hearing the request of the monster.
“Auni, between us.” She demands, through a hoarse throat, pain and tears mending together. The Luxere does his best to complete the circle. Her hand with the sword remains out, ready for any attack, as she focuses on the request. It’s Ru’in, but it’s not. And she grits her teeth against it further, calming herself, steadying herself. “We could have it right here.” She calls out to the monster. “But I prefer a well-lit wedding.” She announces, elbow reaching back to nudge Jigano, to use the staff against the shadows or hand it over to her so she can.
Kiada directs Auni to the circle they’ve made, tries to bribe the monster into the light or closer to it.
as in, the aftermath of something lethal
as in, an echo of inflicted evil
Kiada has a large X scar on the right side of her neck.
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Kiada, without killing her <3
Admittedly, it's not the first spear that hostile critics of the bardic arts have thrown at him, but it's the first one to bite quite so deep and do quite so much damage. Jigano's song cut off with a muffled cry of pain as the scent of bright copper rose in the air and red blood steamed against the white snow in the ruby glow of the luxere staff. He stumbled for a moment before he caught his balance, shifting most of his weight to his good leg. Fuck it hurt, but there was no time to bind it.
He really should have asked Loren for an amulet filled with healing magic. Why didn't he do it when he had the chance?
The monster was... bantering? Fucking wonderful. Banter was his schtick. But you know what? He currently had a better one. A better stick, at least. He feinted the staff towards the direction the spear had come from, flicking it sharply to dislodge any further black goo upon it before he put the full strength of his arm behind lashing up towards the source of the voice with the red-antler-staff. "Great. Can I be the maid of honor?"
Jigano attempts to flick more of the black stuff from the staff and then lashes up towards the sound of Ru'in's voice.
10-23-2019, 11:10 PM (This post was last modified: 10-24-2019, 01:13 AM by Odd.)
"But you look so good in dark colours." The not-Ru'in remarks from above. "Wouldn't want the light to illuminate all of the cracks—" So saying, smoke thrust Ru'in's stony body into the light where it began to smolder and burn.
"Why, are you even here." Not-Ru'in demands from the darkness above. How far away he is was previously impossible to know. Depth in darkness is a tricky thing after all. However as the staff rises up there is is definite something that Jigano hits and as the staff is pulled back down, the tines of the antler are covered in a thick sludge that once again obscures the light.
"Why are you here at all, my lovely bride? You've seen what happens when I come into the light. Darkness is the only place we can be together. Now that you've cut my head off, it seems only fair."
do not misunderstand me when i call myself a shell
i mean a used up bullet casing
She flinches at the words, slightly, inhaling a shuddering breath. “Dark has always been my color.” She calls out to the monster, pausing only as Ru’in’s body begins to smolder and burn before her eyes. And she tears those icy, tear ridden pools toward the darkness again. Hearing the voice that calls out to her, asking her why she’s here, she takes another broken breath, her heart thundering as Auni remains as a part of the circle.
And she flinches again when he tells her that it seems only fair to join him in the darkness, seeing as she’s cut his head off. Wrinkling her nose against it, she exhales loudly. “It’s better in the light.” She offers, knowing it’s not Ru’in, knowing it somewhat is at the same. “The last time I chose darkness, it killed you in an explosion of teal flame.” She manages, forcing herself to think of Kisamoa and the destruction wrought upon the end of her home world. “I am here for you. For your soul. So we can be together like we should have been.” She utters into the darkness above. If she gets his soul, she'll know that he's there. That Ludo and Mort can look over him, knowing where he is. And she takes another broken breath, hoping Jigano might stick the antler staff back up again while she remains in a defensive pose with her sword and shield above to take any drudges of sludge.
Kiada continues to try and plead with the monster, remaining in a defensive pose with her shield above her and sword at the ready.
as in, the aftermath of something lethal
as in, an echo of inflicted evil
Kiada has a large X scar on the right side of her neck.
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Kiada, without killing her <3
So it could be hit. That was a relief, and Jigano bared his teeth in a grim smile - more of a pained grimace - as he withdrew the staff and wiped it quickly against his thick, furry cloak to try and dislodge the sludge again, to free the staff's ruby light. He remained pressed up to Kiada's back, protecting it with his body (leaning on her maybe just a little to accommodate his wounded leg) while borrowing some of her shield's cover from the dark rain.
He said nothing to the thing above; this was Kiada's battle, her chance to regain a soul not merely lost but captured, and he was there to ease her path. Perhaps she could convince it using words alone to give Ru'in back...
But if he could weaken it enough for her to wrest her lover's soul back by force, he would at least try.
Sending a pulse of support to her he began to sing Ludo's song softly under his breath, through gritted teeth and pain as he struck upwards again, a sharp stab of almost clinical curiosity as he tried to find the shape of the monster that hung above them in the dark.
If that thing is some kind of giant spider hanging above us in a soul-catching web, can we set it on fire? he quipped, old habits rising in the heat of battle even if they weren't entirely appropriate.
Once a bard, always a bard.
Jigano tries to wipe the sludge off the staff to free its light before stabbing it upwards at the monster again, trying to determine its shape/placement. He hopes the monster isn't a giant spider.
“You’ve never seen darkness like this though. It is like the inside of the mountains. Pitch, eternal, all encompassing.” And then, when Jigano started singing again, something above seemed to pin its ears in the dark. “I thought I told you to STOP.” Another voice. A different one. “I have his soul and your pathetic song will not be enough to release it.”
Above, something bronze appeared. At first it was faint with no light of its own and then slowly it began to pulse with a warm light. It was a whirl, though one that Kiada would recognize; it was the manifestation of Ru’in’s magic back on Helovia. The spinning sphere took on no discernible shape, but what it was seemed clear enough: the elephant’s soul.
“You can stab and swipe all you want. Sing until your lungs and ears bleed. And then, when you are exhausted and cold, we will descend. And your souls will join his, in the darkness.”
do not misunderstand me when i call myself a shell
i mean a used up bullet casing
The darkness it speaks of is not one that Kiada wishes to believe in, an all swallowing one. Nor is it one she wishes to experience. And she manages to shake her head beneath the cover of the shield, as a separate voice appears and she bites down on her lower lip. Her back brushes up against Jigano’s as the second swipe does no good, and she grits her teeth with the result. But then, there in the light between the cracks of her shield, she can see the bronze soul, the piece of her that’s been missing all this time.
She lowers her shield just enough to look upon it, glancing around in the darkness for the creature that holds it. “It’s there.” She breathes to Jigano, nudging her head upward with a nod as if to show him. And then she focuses on the monsters darkness that holds it, setting her shield and sword back along her spine and side to reach for the crossbow attached to Jigano’s back. “What do you want for it? Surely there’s something better?” She asks, possibly considering a barter for the soul of her loved one, hoping Jigano gets the hint as well, that if things start to go south she’s going to shoot an arrow blindly into the darkness by Ru’in’s soul.
Seeing the soul, Kiada puts her shield and sword away, grabs the crossbow Jigano brought, and tries to barter with the monster, prepared to attack just in case.
as in, the aftermath of something lethal
as in, an echo of inflicted evil
Kiada has a large X scar on the right side of her neck.
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Kiada, without killing her <3
